The contribution of digital optical telecommunications

Today, optical fibers are the established medium for very high-speed digital terrestrial links, thanks to their very high bandwidth (in the THz range), low line loss, small size, low weight and high immunity to electromagnetic radiation.

The possibility of multiplexing several dozen channels of different colors on a single optical fiber, and the availability of erbium-doped optical amplifiers, now make it possible to install transoceanic links with a capacity of several tens of Gbit/s without a repeater. The digital domain is largely developed for and by civil telecommunications activities.

These properties of optical links can be used to advantage in microwave systems for the transmission of analog and digital signals.

This article deals with the emerging field of microwave-optics interactions,...